Technical Field
This disclosure relates to disposable lids for travel beverage cups and, more particularly, to disposable lids that may be placed over the lip of the cup and that provide a drink-through orifice near the perimeter of the lid's top surface so that a seal is formed by the user's mouth for easy drinking access to the beverage, and provide a vent opening so that air can be vented into the cup while the beverage is being consumed.
Description of the Related Art
With many consumers on the go, carryout beverages are more often than not intended to be consumed in moving vehicles, i.e., automobiles, airplanes, golf carts, boats, etc., or while walking, power walking and even jogging. Disposable lids of the kind that provide a seal between the user's mouth and a small drink-through opening have proven more suited for prevention of spills during consumption while on the move, than lids with a tear-off flap that exposes a large section for drinking. This observation is based on the widespread acceptance of this type of lid used by takeout food and drink establishments. And with the growing consumption of hot beverages intended to be consumed while on the move, the need for improvements that reduce spills has never been greater. Of greatest concern is the safety to the customer behind the steering wheel. Besides the annoyance of soiling one's clothing and vehicle interior, the sudden distraction caused by an accidental spill could result in an automobile accident and personal injury.
Prior disposable travel lids have several inherent shortcomings that are causes of accidental spills. The present disclosure addresses these issues:
Because of the airtight seal normally formed by the user's lips applied to a lid having a small drink-through opening, all disposable dome lids of this type require some means to vent air into the cup to displace the beverage being consumed. If air is not vented into the cup, or air vents too slowly into the cup, a partial vacuum is formed resulting in an undesired resistance to the flow of beverage being consumed. Typically, venting is provided by a pin-sized hole positioned on the lid's top wall opposite the drink-through opening. By positioning the vent hole in an exposed location such as near the edge of the lid's top wall, as is usually the case, the hole must be made very small in order to prevent liquid from accidentally spilling out and running down the side of the cup. However, even with a pin-sized vent hole, if the drink-through opening is plugged with a stopper then the beverage can be easily pushed out through the vent hole when a full disposable beverage cup is squeezed even slightly. This phenomena has become a concern because of the increased usage of the small plastic disposable stoppers that coffee houses now provide for their patrons taking their hot beverages to-go.
Coffee house patrons typically order frothed hot coffee and tea drinks for takeout. If the beverage is particularly frothy or if a full paper cup is squeezed even slightly, froth can bubble up through the drink-through opening. With the conventional disposable hot beverage lid, oftentimes the froth will flow over the lid's edge and down the side of the cup, thus producing another manner in which spills can occur. Coffee houses, in order to solve this problem, are known to instruct their baristas to fill the cup well below the cup's top, thus making it appear to the observant customer that the establishment is attempting to short-change its customers.
When a relatively full cup is jostled, as is often the case while moving about, the sloshing beverage is vulnerable to splashing out through the drink-through opening even when the drink opening is relatively small. Attempts have been made to address this concern by introducing devices to seal the drink-through opening when the beverage is not being consumed. However, previously presented disposable cup lids offer sealing methods that require manipulation to momentarily remove the sealing device so that the user is able to sip the beverage. While this methodology is practical if simply transporting the unconsumed beverage from one location to another, it is both cumbersome and impractical for occasional consumption while on the go. The present disclosure addresses this shortcoming by setting forth a novel implementation having a passive integrated barrier within the disposable cup lid that adequately seals the drink-through opening while the beverage is not being consumed, yet permits the consumer to drink from the cup in an enjoyable and satisfying manner.
Prior patents have identified concern for accidental spillage and have suggested means to provide a solution for sealing a disposable dome lid with a small drink-through opening: Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,490; Giraud, U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,707; Smith et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,566; Zuares et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,235,236; and others describe variations of a flexible arm having a closure member that requires manipulation in order to access and reseal the drink-through opening between sips. Wong, U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,003, describes a disposable dome lid having a sliding member that, when engaged by the user, can be slid back and forth to open or close the drink-through orifice between each sip of the beverage. While this concept in theory suggests an effective barrier to selectively seal the orifice, manufacturing costs may well prove the concept to be less desirable.